is diesel always more economical than petrol ?

Question

I have a 1.200cc car but my partner says i should get a diesel car to save fuel costs as i travel long distances to work. However other people at work have said that a small car like mine is just as cheap as a diesel ??? Any ideas

Answer 1

yes it is but dearer to buy?

Answer 2

In many cases a diesel engine will better mpg than petrol but the difference is not so pronounced in small capacity engines.As engine size increases the gap opens so if you were comparing say 3 litre engines there would be a marked difference Also remember that at the moment diesel is a bit dearer than unleaded.The other factor is performance. Diesel engines used to be sluggish,poor acceleration, noisy,smelly but modern units have resolved most of these problems. The only time you can distinguish a diesel from its sound is when you start it, after that it's just like a petrol engine. Performance is much better as long as you are not looking to break any speed records.Acceleration may not be quite as good as petrol but it's not bad.Although the savings per mile between your small car and a comparable diesel would not be anything much, the more miles you do the greater will be the saving. Whether a modest saving justifies you buying another car is really your choice.

Answer 3

You will get better fuel economy from a diesel.

Other advantages of diesel are more torque, so there is more low down "grunt", so you don't have to rev the engine so much to make good progress. Also, diesel engines last longer than petrol. They are made of tougher, thicker material to withstand the higher compression ratios.

The downsides to diesel are more expensive intial purchase price, and you need to cover about 50000 miles before you get an appreciable return. As you travel long distances to work, I would recommend you get a diesel.

Answer 4

Not always, but in most cases.
The only situation is where you have a particularly economical petrol car, and the nearest equivalent diesel car is a lot heavier.
This used to be common, but there are diesel options for many more small cars now.

Answer 5

Cheaper on fuel, more expensive to buy. If you do big mileages it'll be worth it. I saw somewhere that someone had worked out you need to cover at least 50,000 miles to recoup the extra cost of a new diesel, but that'd be much less second hand. We ran a 1.4 petrol, returning about 36-40mpg, now have the same model car but with a diesel engine returning about 60mpg on a run, plus considerably more torque.

Answer 6

Diesel engines traditionally get better fuel mileage than do petrol engines. Diesel burns slower.

Answer 7

Diesel is definately more economical. A diesel engine would also last longer as petrol is corrosive and so would corrode the engine where as diesel uses compression and isn't corrosive.

Answer 8

i changed over to diesel in 1990 and would never go back to petrol most garages charge around 5p more or something like that,take my local morrison's store petrol 86.9 diesel 90.9.the modern oil burner as they are called are much more enviremental friendly ,mine has cat converter like so many modern cars.

Answer 9

Its a little bit dearer but it is more economical i used to have a petrol 1.4 and now have a 1.9gttdi and i get loads more mpg i would never go back to a petrol car!!

Answer 10

Diesel would be much cheaper then petrol! (i should know i got a small car and it drinks petrol)!
but diesel is much worse for the environment!

Answer 11

ive just gone to diesel frm petrol its quicker saves money does more miles